Earlier this year, I wrote in this space about how wars are easy to start but difficult to end. Vladimir Putin is now finding that out.

After capturing and destroying much of eastern Ukraine, Russian forces are now retreating and on the defensive. Thousands of Russian troops have been killed in the fighting. Now, even territory like Crimea that Putin took over in 2014 could be jeopardy. Ukraine has blown up the recently-built bridge directly linking Crimea with Russia, damaging or cutting off a major link from Russia that supplies that area.

Putin, like a cat when cornered, can be unpredictable–and so this is a tenuous time in the Russian War on Ukraine. Even those supporting Putin in Russia are speaking out. Draft-eligible men have been fleeing the country. President Biden has said that it is the most serious time in Russian/American relations since the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1960.

It is true that munitions and military equipment from the United States and NATO countries have helped turn the tide, but the real story has been the resilience of the Ukrainian people themselves. Russia is invading, and Ukrainians are protecting their homeland and way of life. The citizens of Ukraine don’t want to fall back under the Iron Curtain and again become controlled by an oppressive government in Moscow.

David Brooks, in a recent article, described the Ukrainian phenomena as the linking of democratic ideals with a commitment to their nation. He compares the current situation in Ukraine with that in America during World War II. We were then defending our democratic freedoms, but we were also defending our very existence as a country. Our national aspirations were linked to our idea of a liberal democracy where everyone’s importance and stature were on an equal footing, and where the right to vote and self-determination were recognized under the rule of law.

It is the combination of similar forces which is fueling Ukraine’s resistance to Russian aggression.

Yet, let’s not kid ourselves — the days ahead in Ukraine are uncertain. Winter is coming and people are going to be cold in that part of the world and in much of Europe. Putin has instituted the draft in Russia and is pushing more troops into the fight. He continues to unleash missiles on civilian targets.

Let’s just hope that as he digs a deeper hole for himself, Putin doesn’t become totally “unhinged” and drop a nuclear bomb someplace.

That would change everything, and would undoubtedly mean an escalation of the war to other parts of the world–including our own.

Rolland Kidder is a Stow resident and a former New York state Assemblyman.